Friday, October 16, 2015

In the novel "The Outsiders" by S.E Hinton, the Socs beat up Ponyboy and Johnny. Is Ponyboy innocent or guilty of assisting in the murder of Bob...

Ponyboy is innocent of assisting in the murder of Bob Sheldon. He was unaware that Johnny stabbed and killed him, and later on in the novel when they are hiding out, Johnny comments that Pony is not guilty of anything.


In Chapter 4, Johnny and Ponyboy are jumped by a group of five Socs at a local park around 2:30 am. During the scuffle, a Soc named Bob Sheldon grabs Ponyboy and attempts to drown him in the fountain. Pony comments on how he felt while Bob had his head underneath the water and said,



"I'm drowning I thought, they've gone too far...A red haze filled my mind and I slowly relaxed. The next thing I knew I was lying on the pavement beside the fountain, coughing water and gasping." (Hinton 56)



Ponyboy was unconscious when Johnny stabbed Bob Sheldon, and was unaware of what happened until he became conscious again. In Chapter 5, Johnny and Pony begin arguing about their difficult situation. Johnny admits that it is his fault the boys are wanted for murder. Johnny says,



"For bringin' a little thirteen-year-old kid along. You ought to go home. You can't get into trouble. You didn't kill him." (Hinton 74)



Johnny knows that Pony had nothing to do with the decision he made to stab Bob Sheldon.

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